honor: a thousand ghosts
by Issy Faye
Summary: New York. Bright lights, city smiles, and a wedding. Teddy's getting married, but is it really to the girl of his dreams? VictoireTeddy with a dash of TeddyOC. OneShot.


_Does honor matter? In all of the twists and turns of life, does honor really matter?_

~x~

It's not a quiet winter. The chaos consumes the bright lights but the real attraction is Teddy's bright blue eyes. Victoire knows that, but she also knows that he's not hers anymore. Teddy is not available in any sense of the word.

"Vic!" He walks towards her, but whether it's a brisk walk or something entirely different, whether he's entirely too excited to see her at his own wedding, she doesn't know. He doesn't give her a hug – no, too awkward, especially after only a year apart. He smiles bashfully, like he's always done around her. She likes to think he saves that smile – the dimples, the sweet as candy grin – just for her.

"Hi, Teddy. Nice place." Victoire smiles back, but the two of them both know it's not entirely sincere. "I never knew that Lou wanted to be married in New York." The skyscrapers line the streets and the windows reflect every glare back onto the roof of the hotel.

"We both decided we wanted to come to America after we were married." He cleared his throat, and with masked uncertainty continued, "Lou's uncle lives in Albany. There's a lot of potential here for… life, I guess. It makes me happy to see her happy and…" He exhales quickly. "It makes her happy to be here."

"That's nice. It's good that you and Lou are so in love." The next smile Victoire gives Teddy is so obviously fake that it sickens her just to know that the expression came from her face. "It's like a romance novel." She cocks her head to the right, like she always did when they were still together and grins. "Now, go be with your wife-to-be. I'll see you later."

What she really means is _I still love you_.

He doesn't smile, but rather puts his hand on her left shoulder. "Thanks, Victoire. It's good to have you here. I wouldn't want to get married without you."

_As a guest or as the bride?_

~x~

Lou is fair-haired, wide-eyed with a smile that could make any man melt. She's perfect for Teddy – the flyaway flirt has always needed a woman to make him feel lucky. Tied down.

"Lou!" Victoire waves the bride over because maybe she's a masochist, maybe she wants a little more pain in a fairy tale life, but because she wants to be happy for this couple.

"Victoire! It's so good to see you here. It's unfortunate that so many of Teddy's friends and family couldn't be here in New York, but I'm happy you were able to come." She smiles, and it hurts Victoire so much more because Lou is the most sincere person in the building. "I know how close you and Teddy are, and it wouldn't be complete without you."

"Thanks, Lou." Victoire can barely manage a smile at this point. "Well, I'm sure you have, uh, better things to do than talk with me. Congratulations, by the way." She is looking for a chance to escape this torture.

"It's nothing, Victoire. I hope I'll get to see you later." She gives Victoire a quick wave before skipping away to make friends and be joyful because, _yes_, it is her wedding day, after all.

Brings a new meaning to killing with kindness.

~x~

Teddy is on the balcony. Victoire is too shy to walk right next to him, but too uncertain to stay back. Fortunately, he notices her right away and she doesn't have to decide. "Hey, Vic. What's up?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you what's up? It's your wedding day. You should be inside, drinking champagne and being lovey dovey with your wife, right?" She settled in next to him, and in her heels she almost reaches his eyes.

"I should. But I'm not, right?" He looks at her for confirmation, as if he thinks he's dreaming. "This is all such a blur. I love her. I love her and her personality and her face and her hopes for the two of us. I love her, right?"

"Right." Victoire gulps, and she hopes he doesn't notice how hard it is for her to say these words to him. "You love her and she loves you. You two deserve a happy life together. You deserve to grow old together. Don't let some selfish temptation get in the way of that, Teddy."

"Selfish temptations are so hard to resist." He pulls her in close and he kisses her. Harder than he'd ever kissed her back when they were still in love.

"Ted-" She can't get a word in edgewise, but even through his brute force, she pushes him away in less than a minute.

"Victoire," he whispers fondly as she stomps away. "It was a mistake! We can start over together, happy again. Please." He's pleading with her and his big brown eyes are tempting her but it's not enough to make her lose her integrity.

"You are not even half the man I thought you were, Teddy. I'm sorry, but I'm done with you. I hope you have a happy life." She doesn't turn around for fear that he will see the tears in her eyes because her own stupid honor got in the way of what could have been a beautiful, selfish love.

Does she still love him? Yes. That is the definite answer to this indefinite question. She doesn't meet Lou's questioning look either and forgets to get her jacket back from the coat check man.

Teddy keeps her jacket even after he leaves his wife. Does he love her?

Yes. He does.

~x~

She doesn't stay in New York for long. She checks out a day early from her hotel and books an earlier flight back to London. And when there's nowhere to go (can't go home, can't go to the Burrow, too many questions, too many glares) she has to go visit Dominique.

Dominique is easily the black sheep of the family. Quick to judge, harsh and cold-hearted, but Dominique is the only one who will take her sister in with no questions asked, no 'Why didn't you stay with him, Victoire? We all know you love him.' Dominique know how to start over your life, and that's what Victoire needs right now.

Though Victoire hasn't seen Dominique is years, she envelops her younger sister in a hug and nothing has seemed sweeter or more familiar ever. And Victoire cries in her sister's shoulders and it's enlightening for the both of them that yes, ice queen Victoire does show weakness and that, yes, fire princess Dominique does give a good hug.

"Is this about Teddy?" Dominique asks, a few hours after Victoire arrived. "Isn't the wedding over by now?"

"I bet he's left her."

"Left her?" Dominique doesn't scoot over to Victoire like the stereotypical helpful older sister, but then again, she isn't stereotypical, helpful, nor the older sister - she's just Dominique, the black sheep of the family.

"He doesn't love her. Not the way that he should, at least. Not that way that Lou loves him." Victoire sighs. It's just her luck to get knee deep into something like this.

"You mean he doesn't love her the way he loves you? Louella knew that, Vic. She knew that when she started dating him. Teddy never had eyes for anyone but you and she was willing to deal with that because she loved him so much. What's the difference now?" Dominique raised an eyebrow. "Unless that's what you told him."

"Dom, Teddy and I are over. We've been over. Lou deserves someone better. He tried to cheat on her on his own wedding night. What kind of sicko does that?" Victoire stood up. "I'm going to bed. It's 3 am."

"Doesn't Lou deserve to be with the man she loves?" Dominique sends Victoire to bed pondering that question and because of that, she can't get any sleep.

~x~

"I have to go back to New York, Dom. I need to see Lou and tell her." Victoire is up and running, ready to leave while Dominique is still in her pajamas.

"Vic, it's early and you don't have all the time nor all the money in the world. Don't you think you should just let the-" Victoire interrupts her sister with a yell.

"No! I don't want to see some innocent girl get walked on over by Teddy freaking Lupin. The biggest idiot on the planet. I don't want to see her start over." Victoire walks away this time, without so much as a goodbye, but Dominique knows to expect that.

The airport is as loud as always, and it's at times like this when Victoire wishes she'd learned to Apparate. Thankfully, there's a ticket on a flight to New York in an hour, but it's one way.

Whatever. Maybe it'll be good to get away from London for a while. Especially since Teddy will be returning, hopefully without the poor girl, and he is the last person Victoire wants to see.

And it's just her luck that she runs into the unhappy almost-couple in the airport. She tries to hide, but it's just no use.

"Victoire!" It's Teddy's voice. "I can't believe you're here. Where are you headed to?"

"It's none of your business, Teddy. So, how was the rest of the wedding?" Victoire hisses scathingly at the purple-haired boy. He's not a man. Aren't men supposed to be more mature?

"We're divorcing as soon as possible. Lou's a beautiful girl – " He beams at the bleary-eyed blonde. "But she's not the girl for me. My girl is beautiful, tough, and smart. She's everything I want to be."

Half of her body hopes that he's talking about her, but the other half warns her of the dangers. Her right brain says yes, but logic tells her no.

Love says yes, intelligence says no.

Bravery says yes, wisdom says no.

Dreams say yes, needs say no.

Heart says yes, honor says no.

"I would be honored to love you again, Victoire." He looks her in the eyes and it's hard to watch Lou run away, tears falling down her face, eyes buried in her sweater.

He leans in for a kiss, but all she can give him is a tentative smile because a scar is permanent, no matter how much concealer you put over it.

"Let's start over."

~x~

_Does honor matter? Stand with the ghosts of a thousand dead humans and listen to their cries. The silence is your answer_.

~x~

**an: Thanks for reading my first fanfiction under this new pen name. I'll write for any pairing, so... yeah. Expect more oneshots to come. Since I'm in school, I don't really have that much time to write, but I try! I really do.**

**Kisses~  
Issy**


End file.
